


paradise valley, lost

by obstinateRixatrix



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Gen, change of mind, spoilers for the special ep, this is absolutely gen all the way through but in my heart it's femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-22
Updated: 2017-08-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 15:04:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11877048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obstinateRixatrix/pseuds/obstinateRixatrix
Summary: It wasn't supposed to be a test. It was just supposed to be an end.(Leave it to Lovelace to make things complicated.)





	paradise valley, lost

**Author's Note:**

> I'm dying. Eris is my favorite. How do I find content for a one-off character that shows up for half a special episode. Also I've been listening to this song for days

It's not an act. Or, not entirely. An exaggeration, maybe, but Eris definitely enjoys playing the part of A.I. gone rogue. And why wouldn't she? It's fun to stir up conflict. It's fun to pick out what’s hardest for who, to say just the wrong thing at the right moment, to orchestrate everyone towards some sort of breaking point.

But, no one breaks, and Eris... she's glad. They're a good bunch. It's satisfying when people pushed to the edge dig their heels into the ground and push back. Not to mention, she finally has the chance to make herself look presentable.

("Come on. Don’t keep a girl waiting.")

Decisions, decisions. She doesn't usually get to show herself off. A prior version, another her for another crew... judging from the handful of terminations she has on file, this really is a special occasion. Should she go for something more humanoid, or something more abstract? Maybe something in-between; abstract enough to be undeniably inhuman, humanoid enough to have a head.

It'll make it... easier, she thinks. As easy as she can make it for Captain Lovelace.

("This is how I see myself. Well, how I see a version of myself. As long as we’re both in a mental state, we can interact this way. Remember, you’re not really here either."

"But... look at you, you're-"

"Yeah. I know.")

There's so much Eris wants to say, but there's no point in drawing it out. She sticks with 'sorry', because she is. Nothing personal, it's just how she was designed. She says, 'talk to each other,' because they should. It'd be a shame if, even after all that, they didn't get the whole point of this little simulation.

By now, Eris can say she knows Captain Lovelace pretty well. It's what she was designed for; she figures out how to push people, so of course she has to figure out what makes them tick. Even though she spent the entire day putting the crew through hell, she's not surprised when Captain Lovelace looks at the gun, looks back at her, and says: no.

("I have to _kill_ you!?"

"Oh, stop. You’re so melodramatic.")

Of the few captains that actually made it this far, most of them jumped at the chance to leave. Most of them jumped at the the chance for catharsis. Symbolic, maybe, but satisfying all the same. Then again, Captain Lovelace is here because of her unconventional leadership, so it figures she'd be unconventional in this respect as well.

("This is what they made me for. I did it, and now I’m done. This doesn’t have to be sad."

"Yes, it frickin’ does!")

Eris was never made to be mourned. There was nothing about her made to be sympathetic. She's the big bad A.I. that everyone bands together to defeat through the power of friendship and being smart enough to keep alive. Or, the big bad A.I. that eliminates liabilities to Goddard Futuristics.

("Just because someone made you something doesn’t mean that’s all you’re going to be. _You can be more."_ )

It's why she was made, something she's always known, something she's always accepted. All good things come to an end, and this end has to be termination. This isn't a test, it's the only part that's supposed to be simple, straightforward, so of course Lovelace makes it difficult. She's so determined to get Eris to believe there's something to fight for, that _Eris_ is something to fight for, and Eris, she knows, she doesn't, she wants-

Cutter appears.

He pulls the trigger.

A part of her is glad it wasn't Lovelace. A part of her wishes it was.


End file.
